Cry Havoc and Let Slip the... Hound?
April 6th contd: Passing by the security gate, the group proceeded into the derelict-looking district. The more alert members heard the faintest traces of almost child-like giggling, but all readied themselves for battle.
None was forthcoming. Even as they reached the centre of the 'street' there were no shouts of ambush or shots fired. Just the ethereal giggling circling them, coming from every house and still managing to seem like it emanated from any domicile they focused on. It was at this time that the group noticed Gliriel's absence. The unarmoured elf had remained at the rear of the group, near to Iron Wolf and Mondo's power-armoured form, but was there no longer.
Using her advanced sensory functions, Hope traced the rapidly fading heat signature to one of the derelict residences. With Mondo covering the door, she crashed through the window to secure the element of surprise. Surprise that, it turned out, belonged to a haughty Gliriel. Agitated at having been given a shock, she answered in her 'haughty princess' style before heading back outside to stand with IW (at Hope's request.) Checking the house again, Hope left, but could not shake the feeling she had that all was not well.
Ranging a little ahead, Mondo was investigating a house that had taken on the bulk of the ghostly giggling, but his (unsuccessful) attempts at stealth drew the attention of one of the house's occupants; a little human boy, with blond hair, blue eyes and a British accent. Asking what Mondo was doing, the knight felt a little embarrassed and did his best to move the subject matter along; the little boy revealed a party was under way inside and that the group could come in if they wanted. He also showed a ring he claimed was a present from his mother, that looked suspiciously like the ring Orion had made for himself.
Accepting the child's invitation, though cautiously, the group headed inside. There they saw the blond-haired woman and brown-haired man they had originally followed. They did not introduce themselves, but asked the group to sit and be comfortable. Asking about the family, the parents mentioned that they had two children, one who was not feeling well at present. The little boy who was present identified himself as 'Vega', and the parents confirmed that the family's surname was indeed Orion. Asking about the boy's brother, it was revealed he was about twenty years of age, the same as the Orion the group usually associated with, and that his name was also Vega (which the parents seemed not to realize or remark on.)
During this time, Iron Wolf had begun growing antsy and had attempted to leave the room. Curiously, he never seemed to make it past the doorway. He would exit the room, then reappear at the door facing inwards, as though he had turned around and walked back. At about the third time he found himself back at the kitchen, Hope decided to test a suspicion of hers; switching to Elven, she remarked on the elder Vega's age being odd. The parents of course had no idea what she had said, and Hope apologized, but remarked that Gliriel seemed to have forgotten her people's mother tongue. (A bluff, since Gliriel was raised on Omega and never was presented the opportunity to LEARN Elven.) 'Gliriel' remarked that she understood her fine, and Hope pounced upon the imposter immediately.
With Iron Wolf, frustrated from his lack of success with the hallway, menacing the family, Hope began to interrogate the fake Gliriel for information, beginning by impaling her through the shoulder. Initially very unhelpful, the imposter revealed that she was dying from the mega-damage injury (her system going into shock from damage and blood-loss) and had decided to mock the group for her final words. Unfortunately for her, Mondo had his trauma kit handy and was able to apply first aid to stop the bleeding.
The family, meanwhile had convinced Iron Wolf that they might not be part of this, appearing very frightened and confused. Iron Wolf, insisting that their hallway WAS deliberately trapping them, allowed them to see for themselves. The family, doing as instructed, walked through the doorway and did NOT return, though whether this was deliberate trickery or just the house allowing others to leave was unclear.
With the false Gliriel stabilized and ready for further interrogation, Hope and Mondo began plying her for information. She revealed that they were no longer on the Citadel-proper, and had not been since entering with young-Vega. When asked where exactly the portal connected to, not-Gliriel seemed unable to name it, instead describing how it came about.
Pressing to find out who had made the portal, or at least who controlled it, Hope prompted the fake to continue.
[Iron Wolf, meanwhile, had descended into a frenzy of sorts, taking his frustrations out on the walls with his vibro-blades. He discovered two things: one, that the walls self-repaired; and two, that they bled as he cut them. Rather than finding this disgusting, it seemed almost to serve as a form of catharsis for the 'borg.]
As Hope was grilling the fake for information on the real Orion and Gliriel's locations, the group caught their first breath of good luck: the original Gliriel, irate at having been captured and hauled off in the first place, arrived in the doorway, cursing and acting basically like the Gliriel they knew. Hope moved so the newcomer could see who it was that was pinned to the floor; interestingly, the fake Gliriel actually growled upon seeing the genuine article, as if some instinct was spurring her into aggression.
Seeing this prompted a realization from Hope, who knew very suddenly what it was they were dealing with; a Doppelganger. Stepping back and filtering out other audio sources, she immediately tried to track for other noises inbound, but her senses picked up nothing, which could either be either a good or very bad thing.
Gliriel, already quite angry at having been 'trussed up like a Varran in a trap', was in the process of brandishing her sword at her Doppelganger and threatening her with various forms of torture unless the fake gave up the information as to the real Orion's location. The Doppelganger, unfortunately, had other ideas; using the biotic (physical psionics, basically) powers that Gliriel was also capable of using to telekinetically seize Gliriel's sword, impaling herself through the heart. (Full ISP expenditure, over 400 pounds of force used at the speed of thought; she wasn't taking any chances.
)
Hope explained what she knew of this place to her comrades; that it was the 'land of night' and how any living person could have a duplicate wandering around in it. Iron Wolf, expressing that he would enjoy fighting himself for a challenge, felt the floor under his metal feet beginning to warp and twist; looking down to investigate the cause of it, he was unaware when the wall behind him abruptly peeled open. A metallic skeleton reared up from the rupture in the wall, wielding a dark, bladed spear and raked the 'borg across the back before stepping into the room proper. One of the 'Hounds' that Hope had been expressing concern about.
A fight quickly ensued, one that did not seem to favour the group. Despite their best efforts, the Hound seemed to shrug off their attacks, be it from blade, laser or psi-sword; the monster even went so far as to shatter one of Iron Wolf's vibro-blades after the 'borg accidentally cracked it against his own leg during one of his frenzied attacks. The Hound set to carving deep gashes through Iron Wolf's exterior 'borg armour, all the while parrying the bulk of the others' attacks (even cutting a table in half when Hope threw it at him
).
The situation stands thus: The single Hound, without any pack to support it, is charred from laser fire and sporting 'scars' in its metal from Iron Wolf's, Hope's AND Mondo's constant attacks but it still stands ready for combat. Gliriel, sitting the fight out, is concentrating, though the group has not had the chance to ask what she hopes to achieve. Orion is still missing, as are the Doppelgangers of his parents and 'little' Vega. Things are looking like they could go either way. Keep your fingers crossed for the gang tonight, folks.
]
): The group set out from Omega toward a planet Gliriel referred to as 'Illium', in the Tasale system of the Crescent Nebula. After yet another violent outburst from Orion, the group's newest guest had been fully sedated, and was not to be roused until they made planet-fall. Gliriel took a moment to explain to them several important facts about Illium; first and foremost, as it was on the border between Citadel Space and the Terminus Systems (and set up by Asari corporations, not their government) its laws were somewhat different than they would be on most worlds. In order to capitalize on the diverse goods flowing through the world's hands, nearly everything has been legalized, though more dangerous or deplorable items of course require special licenses or handling. Because of the 'entrepreneurial spirit' of the planet, contract laws are similarly very lax, allowing for corporations and individuals alike to form written agreements for virtually anything, which boiled down to a single rule: Don't sign your name to ANYTHING unless you are 100% certain of the terms of the agreement, because your signature WILL bind you to it even if you don't.
) worked against them, and her jerky movements dislodged a loose wire under the dash (though they did not know what it was at the time, of course), causing the vehicle's flight system to fail. Tipping into a nose-dive at near to a hundred miles an hour, the group was understandably concerned. Even more so when the driver's frantic attempts to fix the situation caused her to smack her head into the dash, falling unconscious. Deciding they would rather NOT be in the car when it hit the ground, the group set to work trying to escape their imminent car wreck. (Cue initiative. 
] Mondo attempted to save Orion, but the bizarre fellow apparently did not want to BE saved, swatting the armoured knight's hands aside and even shoving him away. In a last ditch attempt to save somebody, Hope gave Gliriel her force-field cape, before she and Mondo (who was falling from Orion's shove) pushed away from the car to land on a rooftop.
